Hero's Heart
by TheAnimeFicWriter
Summary: The Great War is over and everything is where it should. Actually, not everything. Naruto's dream of becoming Hokage is yet to be realized so hopefully he musters the strength and support from a special someone.
1. Chapter 1

Hero's Hearts

Chapter 1

Konoha's Hero

After the War, the Great Nations finally decided to lay their arms down after the heroic efforts of Naruto and Sasuke. A treaty was made to unite all of the lands into one. This went well since everyone was pretty much devastated by the War. With everything settling down, the Hidden Leaf has finally undergone new management. Hatake Kakashi was voted as the next Hokage. Although he didn't believe he should be Hokage, everyone in the village supported him and congratulated him. As for Naruto, this only pushed him more to become stronger. The only bad thing was that all of his real training was over. He became one with Kurama, achieved the almighty Sage Mode, and was finally acknowledged by Sasuke.

There were still things Naruto needed to do in order to become the Hokage.

One day, Naruto decided to wake up early. He got ready and decided to take a little walk through town. He quickly noticed that no one was around. All of his usual friends were nowhere to be seen. He even passed by Ichiraku's Ramen House without the craving for ramen. He knew that this was going to be an interesting day. With that in mind, he decided to head up the Final Valley waterfall to do some training.

"Naruto-kun…" He turned around to see Hinata calling out to him.

"Oh, good morning Hinata. Have you seen anyone else around? It's almost like a ghost town around here."

"Well, I don't know precisely, but I'm sure they're all relaxing since the War was kind of taxing thing on a lot of people."

"Hm, I guess you're right." He had his body in a way that told Hinata that he was on the move so she ended up asking him where he was going. "Huh? I'm gonna head up to the Final Valley to do some training. You wanna join me?" Her face immediately turned red. He had never asked her to train with him before so she wasn't going to let this opportunity pass her by.

"S-Sure."

"Alright. Let's go." Naruto guided her to the Final Valley where things immediately started to get interesting. Naruto took off his shirt which caused an immediate response by Hinata.

"Naruto-kun, what are you doing?"

"Huh? My shirt? I'm taking it off so it doesn't get wet."

"Wet?"

"It's part of my training. Sage Mode is an important part of my training and I have to practice it every day. Going underneath the waterfall calms my body and it kind of makes it a challenge for me as well." That's when Hinata finally calmed down. Sage Mode was amongst the vast amount of things that Naruto was capable of achieving and yet, she had no idea what it actually was so she decided to join him. She removed her jacket, leaving just her garment armor on. Naruto walked towards the waterfall and sat down right below it. Hinata joined him and watched carefully as to what the purpose for all of this was.

At first, there were no signs of anything. Naruto just sat completely still as the falling water fell on his head and shoulders. That's when Hinata decided to dig deeper into this case. She activated her Byakugan and that's when things started to make a little more sense. She saw some sort of chakra flowing into Naruto's body. When it did, she saw his own and that new chakra combine into one. It was a sight she had never seen before and she was completely taken away by it. Naruto was always full of surprises and this was definitely one of them.

After a while, the chakra stopped its flow which made Hinata ask another question.

"Naruto-kun, what's going on with all of that?" She was a little nervous to ask since she could tell that he was concentrating more than he ever does.

"I'm absorbing Natural Energy and blending it with my own chakra."

"Natural Energy?"

"It's kind of hard to explain. I don't really understand it myself. It's like… Chakra that enhances your own abilities tenfold."

As she continued to examine Naruto's chakra, all of the blending that was happening inside of him seemed to come to a halt. The two chakras were perfectly balanced, exactly like the yin and yang symbol. Hinata was so speechless at witnessing this spectacle. That's when Naruto opened his eyes and revealed his perfected Sage Mode. Hinata reverted her eyes back to normal to see the actual change and still couldn't find the words for the situation.

"Wow, it's getting a lot easier already. I remember when I was at Mount Myouboku. This whole concept was just impossible to get. Now, it's almost like second nature." Hinata noticed the orange shade around his eyes as well as the overall structure of his eyes.

"So what can you do with Sage Mode?"

"This may seem like a stupid answer, but you can do almost anything with it." Naruto suddenly closed his fist and thrust it towards the side of the canyon. At the point of his full extension, a dent was created in the direction of his punch. Hinata managed to catch that all with her Byakugan, but was still speechless. "There's more, but that's about as basic as it gets."

"Um, Naruto-kun, I know this won't be considered training for you, but… C-Could we spar? I would like to experience how strong Sage Mode is."

"Really? That would be awesome. I've never actually fought a Byakugan user with it before. This could get pretty interesting." He walked a few paces away from her and got into his stance. Hinata did the same, analyzing every bit of chakra she could. "Alright, here I come!"

At that moment, Naruto vanished. Even her Byakugan couldn't keep up with him. She looked around to find any traces of him, but it was as bleak as could be. Eventually, Naruto appeared right in front of her with a punch ready to go. Luckily, Hinata pushed to the offensive as well. The power of her gentle fist combated his punch fairly well. All that happened was her body being pushed back from the two opposing forces.

"Alright, that's pretty impressive. Try to dodge this, and I'm being serious about this. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Three clones and started to form his signature attack. Hinata widened her eyes as this was the first time she was on the receiving side of this. "Senpou: Oudama Rasengan." Two giant Rasengans were formed in their hands. Hinata didn't really know what to do so she improvised. She ran right at him and the two holders ran at her. They charged her with the attack right in front of them. However, this blocked their vision which allowed her to jump above them.

"Juuho Soushiken!" With her gentle fists, she formed the twin lion formation and aimed right for the clones. She ended up landing right on top of them, thus ending their wind style. However, even her Byakugan has a blind spot as she quickly noticed someone right behind her.

"You forgot that I had more clones, didn't you?"

"Yes," she said as she dropped her head in shame.

"But hey, that was really good. I had no idea the Byakugan was that effective against Sage Mode."

"Naruto-kun, there's no need to be nice. You could have easily beaten me. You were just going easy."

"Well, I had no intention of hurting you. I could never do that."

Suddenly, her heart skipped a beat. She didn't even realize that she was alone with Naruto until when he said that. All of this time, she was acting very normal around him which was pretty rare for her. Unfortunately, it also made her realize that she still had a promise to uphold. She said that after the war, she would finally confess her love to Naruto. It wouldn't be like when she fought Pain. It would be a real confession with a real answer on his part. The only problem was how she would go about that. Right as she was about to open her mouth, the normal Naruto entered the conversation.

"Aw man, I'm starving. I really shouldn't have skipped out on ramen this morning. You wanna come with me?"

"S-Sure?"

Her chance at telling Naruto her true feelings went by again. Even though being alone with him made her feel completely vulnerable, she always felt the most confident. When everyone else was around, she could never muster up the strength to bring it up. Now that they were heading back into town, she thought that that kind of opportunity would never come again. However, she was in for a surprise. Once they got to Ichiraku's and ordered their food, Naruto asked if she wanted to train with him tomorrow. Of course, she gladly accepted his offer.

This time, she was determined to follow through with her promise. There was no backing down now.

End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

Hero's Heart

Chapter 2

The Hero Leaves

Once the day was here, Hinata woke up bright up and got ready. Once she was ready, she stared herself down in the mirror and made sure she was ready to do what she had to do today. She was going to finally confess her love to Naruto. All of this time she kept telling herself not to do it for naught. This was finally her chance to be honest with herself. She walked outside and looked to the horizon. The sun was peaking over the horizon and she just knew that it was going to be a good day.

A couple more hours went by and she finally headed into town. Once she got there, she saw Naruto waiting for her outside of Ichiraku. He greeted her with a friendly good morning and then headed to the Final Valley.

When they arrived, Naruto took a seat and got in that same position as the other day. He was acquiring his Sage Mode so Hinata knew not to bother him. However, she had so much on her mind that she wanted to talk to him about. The only bad thing was that she was forced to wait until they were done with their training session.

Right as their training session began, Hinata knew that there was something different about Naruto. The amount of concentration and precision that went into his attacks was unlike anything he did yesterday. Even though it was just a sparring match, Hinata was forced to stay on her toes in case if he tried anything sneaky. Punch after punch, kick after kick; Hinata couldn't see a single opportunity to throw an attack his way. He was constantly on the offensive. Although this was a typical Naruto thing to do, it was just different in every way. She couldn't put her finger on it. It wasn't until Naruto stopped his attack and stood still. This told Hinata that there was something wrong.

"Naruto-kun, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Oh, you just didn't seem like yourself just now. If you're not feeling well, I can understand us stopping for the day. We trained pretty hard already."

"No, it's not that."

"Then what is it? Something does seem wrong."

There was a slight pause in their conversation before he spoke up again.

"Hinata, I need to talk to you about something."

"Okay." By saying that word, it automatically put her topic at the end of whatever he was going to say. However, Hinata didn't mind. For her, Naruto came first no matter what and if this was something she could help with, she'd be more than willing to do it.

"It's kind of stupid that it took me this long to figure it out, but I guess I'm finally going to do it." He took a deep breath and looked her right in the eyes. "Hinata, I love you."

At that moment, she was completely speechless. The thing she wanted to talk to him about was just spoken to her. Naruto just confessed his love to her, but now, she had no idea what to say. What could she say? How could she say it? All of this time, she assumed that it was a one-sided love. It only seemed that way and yet, Naruto was the one who finally confessed. And it was no joke either. Hinata was looking right into his eyes and could see that he did not falter. Those words were genuine and pure. He was telling the truth. The only strange thing about it was the timing.

"Naruto-kun, you… love me?"

"I do. I'm a horrible person for not realizing it when I should have. To be honest, I don't deserve to be with you after how patient you've been with me, but…"

"No." Hinata cut in with a strong voice to make sure that he would listen to what she had to say. "You've got it all wrong. All of this time, you were focusing on protecting everyone. You didn't have to think about something like love. You're not at fault. If anything… I'm the one at fault. I constantly tried to get close to you, but could never understand the extent of the situation. I'm sorry." She bowed her head, hoping that it would ease the mood. Unfortunately, there was more to come on Naruto's side.

"However, I can't accept your feelings just yet."

Hinata's eyes shot wide open as she raised her head to see a sad look on Naruto's face.

"What do you mean?"

"It all has to do with the War. Without the Sage's powers, we wouldn't have won and everything would be over. None of that was me and that made me realize. I'm not strong enough to protect the people I care about. That includes you. I can't go on knowing that there is still a threat out there that I can't stop on my own. I have to become stronger."

"But… You're already really strong. You're now the strongest person in the village. Everyone respects you and looks up to you. You've changed things around here."

"That's not enough though. I want the person I care about to know that I can protect them no matter what."

"Naruto-kun, you're always able to protect the people you care about. W-Why are you saying this?"

"I'm sorry Hinata, but I have to go away for a bit. I hope you can understand."

She couldn't believe the words that she was hearing. This was exactly the time when Jiraiya Sensei took him with on his voyage to train him. However, it was different. Naruto was doing it on his own accord. She knew that he was serious about this and that there wasn't really anything she could say that would stop him. She just didn't want him to go. The world was finally at peace and Naruto was still bothering himself about keeping the people he cares about safe. This only brought tears to her eyes; tears that she couldn't hide from him. Right as they started to form, he walked over to her and wiped them away.

"I know that by the time I come back, you'll see me as a true hero." He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "Goodbye Hinata."

A puff of smoke appeared right in front of her and that's when Naruto disappeared. As quickly as she could, she tried to stop him from leaving, but it was already too late. Once again, she missed her chance to tell him how she felt. Because of the circumstances of the situation now, she was almost certain that her words might have persuaded him from leaving the village. Unfortunately, it was too late. He was gone and she had no idea where he went off to.

All alone now, she made her way back into town where everything was hustling and bustling. Some of her friends caught her on the street and said hi. She didn't respond. This caught their attention, but didn't really do anything about it. They knew that Hinata wasn't big on being social so they just let it go and moved on with their day. On the other hand, Hinata walked around purposelessly until she ended up running into Sakura.

"Oh, Hinata, great timing. I was wondering if you've seen Naruto anywhere. I need to talk to him about something."

"…'s gone."

"Huh? What'd you say?"

"Naruto-kun's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean by gone?"

"He left. I don't know why. He just said he had to go. I don't know why he would something like that." At that moment, her emotions got the best of her as tears started to roll down her face.

"Hinata, what's wrong?" Sakura was quick on the draw and grabbed her body before she could collapse onto the ground. "Sshhh. It's okay. Just tell me what happened."

It was hard for Hinata to say anything since her tears and everything else relating to that was just too much. Eventually, Sakura took her back to her house where she managed to calm her down a bit. Sakura waited a bit longer to ask about what happened, but she knew that this was something big since Hinata was not one to lose herself in public. Once she was calm, Sakura went ahead and asked her what had happened. It took Hinata a while to answer since she was a little unsure of it herself.

"Naruto-kun left by himself."

"He left? Like on a trip or something. Did he say something horrible to you?"

Hinata shook her head.

"No, he talked about not being strong enough to protect the people he cared about. That led him to confessing his feelings for me."

Sakura was now the one who was speechless. She knew that that guy was a blockhead, but to hear that he was the one who confessed his love was something else. She didn't even know how to react. She didn't want to smile since Hinata was saddened by this. She also didn't want to seem sad because Hinata was already sad and didn't want to make things any worse.

"Wow, I didn't see him as the one to confess to you. How did you handle it?"

"I-I couldn't. He disappeared by the time I could say anything else." She shoved her head in her hands and avoided eye contact with Sakura.

Meanwhile, Sakura was still a little confused. Disappeared? That kind of seems like a weird word to use in this situation, but since it was Hinata, there's no way she would exaggerate something like this.

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"I'm sure he left for a reason."

"I know he did. I just don't understand why he had to tell me those things and then leave immediately."

"I think he wants you to know that he'll constantly be thinking about you even though he had to leave. Don't you think that sounds like a good thought? Naruto never does anything to hurt others. What he's doing has a purpose. I'm sure of it. All we need to do is be patient with him and welcome him back whenever he decides to show up again."

Hinata raised her head to see a smile on Sakura's face.

"Thank you Sakura-san."

"Of course. You know I'm supporting you the entire way."

Hinata's face immediately turned red. Even though her and Naruto's feelings are a lot more clearer, it was still an embarrassing thing to talk about with other people.

…

A cloud of smoke appeared and Naruto emerged out of it. He took a good look around and breathed in the familiar air. He was back at Mount Myouboku with every intention of honing his skills to the max in order to be that hero he's always wanted to be… More like, the Hokage that he always wanted to be.

End of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

Hero's Heart

Chapter 3

The Hero's Journey

"Oh, Naruto-chan, it's nice to see you again. How long has it been?"

"Hello Grampa Sage, it's nice to see you again."

"So what brings you here? When I got your request the other day, I was kind of wondering why you'd want to come back."

"Yeah, it was kind of random, but I do have a reason for it. I need to get stronger and I know that this place is the best to do so. Also, I was wanting to help you and Grandma Sage. Please," he said as he got on his knee and bowed his head. "Take me in as your student once more."

"Naruto-chan, you seem different, but I won't let that affect me. Let's work together once more."

"Thank you." He rose to his feet and smiled.

"Okay. Enough of that. Let's head home. Mom's making some lunch."

At that moment, Naruto nearly gagged at the thought since he knew that toad food was a little unappetizing to him. However, he couldn't say no. The two of them headed home and when they arrived, Grandma Sage welcomed him with open arms. They then sat down and had lunch. As hard as it was, he muscled all of the food down as best as he could and eagerly waited for his training to begin. Once they finished their food, Grandpa Sage took him out and started with his training.

"Alright Naruto-chan, you know the drill."

Naruto nodded his head and started to gain his Sage chakra. Immediately, Grandpa Sage saw a noticeable difference in that it he was a lot quicker in acquiring Sage chakra. A few seconds went by and he was ready to go.

"Hm, I can tell that you've been working hard."

"I have. I don't know if you know this, but the shinobi world has gone through quite a lot after our time together. I don't really want to talk about it though."

"Okay, then let's get to our training. How's your Rasengan?"

"As good as it can be." At that moment, Naruto put out his hand and created his Rasengan by himself. Meanwhile, Grandpa Sage was expecting him to use him Shadow Clone to help, but it was obvious that he's been doing a lot of training on his own. This only made him step up the level of intensity for their training.

"I see. Then I guess we can change things up a bit. Create your Rasenshuriken on your own, no shadow clones."

"Huh?"

Grandpa Sage knew that he had got him now. He was already surprised that Naruto pulled that trick out when fighting Pain. Now, he wanted to see the true nature of this still mysterious jutsu.

"What's wrong, Naruto-chan? Are you not able to do so?"

"I'm sorry. That is something that I can't do."

"Alright then. How about you show me how you normally do it?"

That's when Naruto regained his conscience. He created his clones and formed the Rasenshuriken. The incredible speed of rotation created a whirring sound that had intimidating force.

"How about that, Grandpa Sage?"

"Very impressive. I'd like to see the true force of this attack once more."

"Of course." He took aim at a nearby mountain and hurled it right at it. Once it touched the piece of rock, the rock was sliced in half and then exploded due to the expansion of the wind style. Of course, Grandpa Sage was impressed.

"I can't believe that you managed to create something new."

"Well, it took me a long time. I did spend a lot of time here mastering Sage Mode. I used my knowledge of the Rasengan and just combined it with something else that we all know in the shinobi world."

"So how does the Rasengan work?"

"It has a lot to do with rotation and containment. In the beginning, I relied on two clones to handle one task. Now, I can accomplish the Rasengan on my own. As for the Rasenshuriken, I need some help. I handle the Rasengan center while the others work on the wind blades of the shuriken. I've tried to do it on my own, but the blades are just too fast to contain while I'm working on the Rasengan."

"Well, let me see you try it right now."

"Are you sure? If things don't work out, there could be some collateral damage."

"Don't worry. I'll keep my distance. I just want to see if you have the ability to do it. If you don't remember, I worked with Jiraiya-chan who created the Rasengan. And then you're father inherited that ability from him and passed it on to you. One way or another, we'll break the secret." He hopped behind a nearby rock and watched the scene unfold.

Naruto took a deep breath and stuck out his arm. At first, he molded a simple Rasengan and allowed it to stay there for a while. After a few more seconds or so, Naruto's concentration changed to something else. Four blades started to appear around the ball of wind. In the beginning, it seemed as though it was going to work out, but once the blades appeared, they started to rotate out of control. Naruto tightened his grip on the Rasengan to try and contain it, but it was no use. The blades spun out of control and shot out in every direction. The blades flew in opposite directions and caused huge explosions wherever they landed.

"See? The task is too high for a lone jutsu user. When I have someone else with me, I never have that problem. My focus remains on the Rasengan. My clones create the blades and get them to rotate along with the Rasengan. Once their speeds are matched, I regain control of the whole thing."

"I see. Still, I'm very impressed that you figured this out on your own."

"I had to. I knew my enemy would be incredibly strong so something like this was needed."

"Well, I got a good sense of what we need to work on, but let's call it a day for now. Too much work in a short amount of time isn't good for progress."

"Okay."

The two of them headed back to the house and relaxed for the rest of the day. Grandma and Grandpa were talking for most of the time while Naruto was staring out towards the horizon. He was using every moment he could to keep his mind focused on why he was here. He was here to get stronger so he only had time to think about training and nothing else. When the moon was out and everyone was asleep, Naruto continued to stare at the sky with only one thought in mind. He was going to get stronger for the sake of all of his friends and people he cared about.

…

Back in the Hidden Leaf, word got around quickly that Naruto was gone yet again. This caused everyone to gossip about why he would leave and what he was doing. Of course, there were only two people who know why he left and what he was doing. They just didn't want to tell other people about it since they didn't want to make it seem like a big deal.

However, the interesting thing about it all was that people were wanting him back. There were numerous plans to celebrate his heroic efforts and now that he wasn't here, they didn't know if they should celebrate anything. Even people who weren't particularly close to Naruto were sad that he wasn't with them. All of Naruto's friends who were passing through town overheard all of their conversations and really started to get what he meant to their village. Hearing those conversations alone made them want him back as well.

Meanwhile, there was one person who was avoiding the topic completely and it was Hinata. She was spending her time at her dojo, continuing to train her skills. After training with Naruto and seeing how ahead of her he is, she wanted to catch up as quickly as she could. However, she had the thought that that would never happen. She knew that he was on a different level than her, but she used this thought to motivate her. All of this time, she's been chasing his back. All she wanted to do was get that much closer to it without being left in the dust.

…

Back at Mount Myouboku, Naruto and Grandpa Sage were working hard to uncover the secret of his Rasenshuriken. The days went by like nothing and nothing seemed to be accomplished. The two of them tried all sorts of tricks, but nothing worked. They took different approaches and even used some of the toad oil to gain even more Sage chakra, but those didn't work either. Eventually, Grandma Sage checked up on their progress and could tell that they were having difficulties. That's when she decided to step in to lighten the mood.

"It seems that Dad has lost his touch."

"I guess I have. This thing we're working on is just too complicated."

"How about I give it a try?"

"Could you? I'm feeling a little tired."

"Oh, good timing. I prepared some tea back at the house."

"Thank you Mother. Good luck to the both of you." The two of them watched Grandpa hop off on his own. Once he was out of sight, she turned to Naruto and smiled. "So, what are we working on?"

"We're trying to unlock the secrets of the Rasenshuriken; the jutsu that I used against Pain. Grandpa Sage tried to get me to create it without any clones. That's what we're doing."

"Hm, interesting. Did the two of you talk about Sage Mode in detail?"

"Not really, since we assumed that that wasn't necessary since I'm already in Sage Mode."

"I think that would really help. Sit down, Naruto-chan."

The two of them sat down and Grandma began her story.

"As you know, Sage mode allows its users to do extraordinary things. You experienced the power of it firsthand when you used its power to identify the White Zetsus. Sage Mode can identify the negative energy around you. However, it also allows you to identify the good energy around you. Sage Mode is all about balance. The user can choose between the two in whatever situation they may. Now, you of all people know what it's like to call upon negative powers that the Nine-Tails offered you. You've never actually called upon the powers of positive energy."

"Positive energy? What do you mean by that?"

"Energy from the people you care about."

"Oh! Like with my mom and dad when they helped me control the Nine-Tails' chakra."

"Not really. Sage Mode can only access the energies of those who are living and important to you. When you are able to achieve this ability, there are no limitations to what you can do as a Sage. Is there someone that is special to you?"

…

Nearly a year went by and the Hidden Leaf was still hurt from the disappearance of Naruto. However, that time wasn't for naught. A toad was summoned inside the Hokage office with a letter from Mount Myouboku. This caught everyone inside the office off guard. Kakashi took the letter and read it to himself. Once he finished it, he looked up at his advisors.

"What does it say, Lord Hokage?"

"Our hero's coming back."

End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

Hero's Heart

Chapter 4

Hero's Come Back

 **Note:** I hope you all have a safe and wonderful holiday season.

Kakashi spread the word to the entire village, and the news set the village upside. Everyone frantically grabbed all of the decorations that they could and set them up for Naruto to see. All they were told was that he was going to appear in front of the Konoha entrance so that's where all of the action was taking place. Even his friends were getting pumped to see his return. They eventually found out why he was gone and were extremely excited to see how much he's improved and to see if he learned anything new.

Meanwhile, Hinata was alone at home, completely unaware of the fact that Naruto was coming home today. She was working on a little project for him that she spent the entire year on. No one knew about so it allowed her to really make it worth the while when Naruto sees it. It wasn't quite done, but out of nowhere, she heard cannon fire from her room which startled her. She still didn't know what it was for, but in reality, Naruto had returned.

The crowds were cheering and even some of the girls were crying. The most well-known person in the village had returned in such incredible fashion. There were a couple of changes to his apparel that really turned heads. He cut his hair, he had on his red and black cloak, and wore a scroll on his back. It was obvious that he had become a true Sage. No one knew it though. They just cheered for the return of their hero. As the cheering continued, something caused the crowds to split. It was the Hokage. At that moment, Naruto got on his knee and bowed to him.

"Lord Hoka…"

"Oi, oi. I've never really liked that name, especially coming from you, Naruto." He saw Naruto raise his head and slowly put a smile on his face. "Welcome back."

"I'm glad to be back."

When he rose to his feet, he took his first steps into the village and everyone welcomed him back with smiles on their faces and friendly pats on his back. He walked through the huge crowd of people until he came across the ones who he knew the most. All of his shinobi friends were waiting patiently for him.

"Hey Naruto, welcome back."

"Hey you guys." At that moment, he completely dropped his grandeur act and ran at them at full speed and gave every one of them a big hug. "Dang. It feels like it's been so long."

"I mean, a year can feel longer for some and shorter for others."

"Yeah, I guess you're right Shikamaru."

"So what did you do on your time away?"

"Yeah, we've all been anxious to hear about it."

"Don't worry. I'll tell you guys everything you want to know. Let's head to Ichiraku's though. You have no idea how long I've been craving ramen. I will tell you that the food where I was training was not something worth dying for. Anyway, let's going." Right as he took his first steps towards the ramen house, he noticed something was off. "Hey, where's Hinata?"

"Oh yeah, she's not with us. Have you guys seen her?"

"She's probably at the Hyuga dojo."

"Sakura-chan, where is that," he demanded as he grabbed her shoulders.

"It's just up the hill passed the Hokage quarters. Why?"

"Thanks." At that moment, he turned around and ran in that direction.

"Oi Naruto, what happened to our plans of going to Ichiraku's?!"

"You guys go ahead! I'll catch up!" He didn't respond to anything after that. He just kept on running until he arrived at the Hyuga dojo. When he arrived, the place was very quiet and almost deserted. This was his first time being on this side of town so it was a little strange knowing that there was a place in the village that he didn't know about. He knocked on the door and took a deep breath. Not before too long, someone opened up the front gate. "Hanabi-chan? You live here?"

"Of course I live here. I'm a Hyuga, idiot."

"Right. My bad, I totally forgot. Well, it's nice to see you after so long."

"I guess I could say the same to you, Naruto-san."

"Hey, is Hinata around? I need to speak with her."

"Yeah, she's in her room. However, she's been locked up in there for a long time so I don't know if you'll be able to speak with her."

"Can you just show me where that it? I'm sure I'll be able to do something."

"Alright. Suit yourself." Hanabi guided him through the dojo and to Hinata's room where she left him alone. "Good luck." She waved goodbye and disappeared without a trace. For a brief second, he stared at the door before knocking.

"Hanabi, I already told you that I'm busy right now."

"Hinata, it's me."

"Hyah!" A whole bunch of crashing sounds came from inside which made Naruto worried. He bashed through the door, already in Sage Mode.

"Hinata, are you okay?!" He quickly examined the room and noticed that there was nothing wrong. However, Hinata was on the ground with her sewing equipment everywhere around her.

"Naruto-kun, what are you doing here?"

"I just got back and wanted to see you. Did I happen to come at a bad time?"

Her face turned red.

"No, no, no. Of course not. You just surprised. I had no idea that you were coming back so soon."

"So soon. It's been a year. Did time go that slowly for you?"

"N-Not really."

Naruto walked over to her and stuck out his hand to her.

"Well, time couldn't go any faster for me." He pulled her up and picked up her things. "I didn't know you sewed."

"Yeah, it's kind of a hidden hobby that I have."

"I like it. It really fits your personality."

His words were a constant bombardment of embarrassing things for her. There was so much she wanted to say, but in this situation, she just couldn't do it. Naruto had complete control of their conversation and decided to continue with where they left off.

"Hinata, would you like to come with me? There's something I'd like to talk to you about."

"O-Of course."

The two of them left the Hyuga dojo and headed up the ways to some place Hinata was unaware of. As they walked to their destination, Naruto was silent the entire time. Hinata decided not to speak either since it was obvious that he was going to share everything with her when they got to wherever they were heading. After a while, Naruto lead her to the top of the Hokage Mountain. He was silent at first, but slowly the conversation.

"Hinata, I really do want to say sorry about leaving like that."

"No, it's okay. You did what you had to do."

"I mean, that's true, but…"

"Naruto-kun, if you think I'm mad at you, I'm not. I'm actually really happy that you're back. Things have been too different without you here."

"What? Like bad different?"

"Not exactly. It's just… A lot of people were missing you and everyone wanted you back. I wa… Never mind."

"Hinata, I wanted to talk to you about what we talked about before I left."

At that moment, Hinata started to grow shy. Her cheeks were red and her legs were starting to lose strength. However, she tried to combat this as best as she could. She knew what he was talking about and was determined to speak her mind as well. The last time this happened, she was unable to open her mouth. This time, she was going to do what she promised to do.

"I know I said some things that you might have misunderstood."

She widened her eyes and lost the words that she was thinking about.

"But I meant every word I said."

Her reaction changed once again.

"You did?"

"I did, and I feel it even more now that I'm back from Mount Myouboku."

"W-What do you mean?"

"When I was training, I learned something crucial that allowed me to take the final step in my training."

"What was that?"

"I don't need to do all of this on my own." Naruto grabbed her hand and smiled. "I'm not doing this because I need to. I'm doing this because I want to. Hyuga Hinata, I love you. What do you say?"

"Naruto-kun, you don't understand how long I've wanted to tell you how I feel. Now that I have the opportunity, I don't know what to say."

"So is that a no?"

She shook her head.

"It's quite the opposite." She let go of his hand and put her hands on his cheek. She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. This caught Naruto off guard, but soon figured out what her answer was. He lowered his hands and put them on her hips. Together, they shared their very first embrace. An embrace that they would never be able to forget.

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

Hero's Heart

Chapter 5

Not So Happy Ending

After their shared their very first kiss, they decided to spend the rest of the day together. They didn't really care where they went or what they did. The swarming crowd of girls couldn't even distract the two of them. With a year away from each other, they had a lot to talk about and they managed to get through everything they needed to say. Unfortunately, time continued to go on and night fell upon them. That's when they knew that it was finally time to say goodbye for the day. Naruto walked her back to the Hyuga temple, but when they got there, they were greeted by dozens of Hyuga people.

"Uzumaki Naruto… It seems as though you have returned."

"I did. And it was training that was well worth the time."

"Hinata." Out of nowhere, the head of the group directed all of his attention at her. "What have you been doing all day?"

"I-I've been with Naruto-kun."

"We did not authorize this time of leisure. You must return to your quarters at once." Two men broke from the group and walked to Hinata. They grabbed her by the arms and dragged her into the temple grounds.

"Hyah!"

"Hinata!" Naruto reached out his hand, but was immediately cut off by more Hyuga members. "Oi, what's going on here?"

"Sorry, Naruto-san, but we just can't let this go on."

"What are you talking about? I'm bringing no harm to Hinata."

"You may not think it, but you are. The Hyuga is an ancient power and we cannot allow someone like you to take it away from us so I suggest you leave." The Hyugas who were surrounding him lowered their bodies with the intent of striking if he tried anything. Although Naruto knew he could take them all on, he decided that it was best not to make a scene. He took a step back and started to walk away while still keeping his eyes on them.

Once the Hyuga temple was out of sight, Naruto turned around and walked through the town. When he did, many of his friends spotted him and called out to him. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the mood to talk. He kept his head down and continued to walk by himself. The longer he walked, the more attention he got from his friends. Naruto's strange behavior made them follow behind him. He knew that they were following him, but he just let it go. His wandering lasted until he made it into the forest just outside of the village. That's when Naruto went crazy.

He created Rasengans in his hand and started to destroy the forest around him. Luckily, this didn't go on that long as Sakura emerged out of the shadows to try and talk to him about what was bothering him.

"Naruto-kun, what are you doing?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Well, I kind of have to be worried about it. You just got back after being gone so long. You usually never act like this so something has to be up. You know you can tell me."

"It's fine. I don't want to talk about it."

"Excuse me for being nosy, but… Is this about Hinata?"

Naruto was about to destroy another tree when Sakura said that name. This made him stop and turn around.

"You know, I thought that after the Great War, people would be able to understand each other. They would be able to look at each other and say that we are all the same. It's unfortunate how that's still not true."

"What are you talking about? The shinobi is better than it's ever been, and you're the one we should all be thanking."

"I'm not talking about that though."

"Then what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Hinata!" His sudden change in tone made Sakura take a step back. "It's the Hyuga clan. They don't understand that evil is no longer a thing and yet, they still believe that there are people out there who seek to use their gift for selfish reasons. All of the shinobi saw how incredible the Hyuga were during the war. Everyone respects them as people and ninja. I just don't see why they choose to remain in their temple, protecting such a small thing."

"I know it sounds bad, but the Hyuga have a history. You know this."

"Yeah, I know…" Naruto bowed his head and lowered his arm. It appeared as though he was finally done with his little temper tantrum. "Sakura-chan."

"What's up?"

"I confessed my love to Hinata… and she accepted them."

Right as Sakura was about to congratulate him, he came back with another comment that knocked her back from her sudden burst of happiness.

"That's when she was taken away from me. The Hyuga believe that I have ill intentions towards Hinata." Naruto tightened his fist and banged it against a nearby tree. "How could they think that?"

Naruto has been hurt numerous times in his life, but this was the first time Sakura got to see a new kind of hurt. This involved his heart and the contents that were inside of it. Yes, his parents were a big part of his life, but now that he's parted ways with them, there's only one thing left inside and that's Hinata. After all of this time, he's finally realized it and now, it pains him to think about it.

"Naruto-kun, you remember how you always talked about being Hokage?" She came up next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. That's when she nodded. "You can still accomplish that dream. And when you accomplish that dream, you can tell the Hyuga how you really feel. I think that would be the best way to go about this."

Naruto was silent for a few seconds before raising his head and turning to head home.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan." He waved to her with a smile on his face as he ran off like he always did in the past.

…

"Why are you doing this?"

"Hinata-sama, you know the rules of our clan. Non-Hyugas cannot be a part of us. We have been entrusted with the responsibility of honing the Byakugan and keeping it out of enemy hands."

"But the enemy has been defeated. It's all thanks to Naruto-kun…"

"That's enough. This conversation is over. Cool off for the night and I'm sure you'll be thinking straight in the morning." The man exited the room while slamming her door shut.

Hinata couldn't believe this was happening to her. Of course, Naruto never had a great relationship with the Hyuga clan, but the Great War should have been a turning point in their relationship. Naruto brought people together when it didn't seem like it was possible. Unfortunately, the Hyuga are very stubborn in their beliefs and still believe that the Byakugan is something that must be protected. All Hinata could do was remain in her room and wait.

…

When Naruto returned to his room, he rummaged through his drawers until he found something wrapped with cloth. He pulled it out of the drawer and revealed what was underneath it. It was his father's kunai. The legendary weapon that made him the Yellow Flash amongst the shinobi world. He held it tight and took a deep breath.

"Looks like this will be a bit of a test run. Let's see how this goes." At that moment, Naruto disappeared and suddenly reappeared in someone's closet. It was a horrible landing that caused him to crash into the ground with clothes falling on his body. "Great. Good going, moron."

"Naruto-kun?"

He heard a very familiar voice as the crack in the door frame of the closet lit up. It only took a few seconds for the door to open and reveal whose room it was.

"Hinata."

"Naruto-kun, what are you doing here?"

End of Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

Hero's Heart

Chapter 6

Following the Dream

"What are you doing here?"

"Huh?"

"Uh, well, it was kind of a test run, but it turned out a lot better than expected. Haha."

"What are you talking about?"

"I recently found the kunai that my dad used. He left them for me, but I never bothered to look through some of the old stuff that the village keeps from previous Hokage. Since I've been training myself to become the greatest Hokage, I thought I could continue the legend of the Yellow Flash."

"Haha, well, it did work." Hinata's face grew red which caused Naruto to switch gears.

"Ah man, I didn't mean to barge in on you on such an awkward time."

"No, no. It's fine. I was just thinking to myself that it would have been nice to leave each other on better terms."

"That's exactly what I was going to say."

Hinata smiled and helped him get out of her closet. Thankfully, he didn't make a lot of noise or else her guards would have found out by now. Once he was out, Hinata sat on her bed and Naruto grabbed a chair and pulled it up near her.

"So what do you want to talk about," she asked with a shaky voice.

"Even though it was only a year, I was wondering if anything interesting happened around here."

"Um, I don't think so. The only thing that I can think of was that the Kazekage visited the village."

"Gaara?"

"Yeah. He was asking for you to join him for a drink, but everyone said that you weren't around so his trip was kind of for naught." At that moment, Hinata could see a change of emotion on Naruto's face. "Naruto-kun, did I say something wrong?"

"It's nothing. It's just… Gaara and I made a promise that we would have a drink together when I became Hokage. It's been almost 3 years since we made that promise and I'm still here… Not Hokage."

"I'm sure it'll happen eventually. So many people realize how strong and important you are to this village. Even Kakashi-sensei sees that and would be more than willing to hand the reigns over to you."

"Thanks Hinata. I just don't think that will be enough. Kakashi-sensei has been an important part of this village his entire life. Me, on the other hand… I used to be the hated Jinchuuriki that no one wanted to be around. That makes things pretty difficult to become Hokage, don't you think?"

"You can't think like that. The past is past, you've said it yourself. We have to move forward in forward to have a peaceful life as a people."

"I know, but…"

Hinata smacked her hands against his face and looked him in the eyes.

"There is no 'but.' You will be Hokage. I promise that, and you'll do amazing things when it happens."

"Hinata-sama?"

"Hinata-sama, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"Oh no, you need to get out of here."

"On it. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay."

In the blink of an eye, Naruto vanished just as the door to her room opened up. Her guards carefully scanned the room and quickly realized that there was nothing suspicious going on. However, one guard checked her closet and saw the mess that was left behind by Naruto's test run. He simply told her to clean up and after that, they left.

Once she cleaned her closet, she lied down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She still couldn't believe that Naruto confessed to her and she couldn't believe that she was doing something like this. Lying to her own clan… It almost seemed otherworldly, but Hinata felt that this was the right thing to do. Naruto, as a Jinchuuriki, and the Hyuga were always looked at as outsiders by other people so that was something that they had in common. If she couldn't convince the Hyuga that Naruto didn't have evil intentions, he would be able to change it sooner or later. Naruto's never let her down before and this was definitely something he couldn't fail at.

…

"Lord Hokage, let's start off with your comments. In your opinion, how are things going?"

"Nothing seems to be wrong. The other Kage have let me know that their lands have been safe without any major problems."

"What about the group of rogue ninjas?"

"Yes. They have let me know about that."

"Well, are we going to do anything about it?"

"I believe it's best to let the law catch up to these people. Shinobi have already promised not to get involved with little things like this."

"But they claim to be ninjas of their own village."

"That alone makes this our problem. What's going to happen when they come here? I don't think we should wait until it becomes a problem. We should stop it before it happens."

"That's the problem," Kakashi said sharply. "Shinobi can't act like the preventers of bad things. People will believe that we're abusing our power. None of you want that, do you?" He looked around and saw that all of them were shaking their heads. "So, what is the solution?"

"We could at least keep watch over this group. We should find out their intentions first before jumping to conclusions."

"Alright, that sounds like a good plan. Do we have someone we can trust to carry out this plan?"

"Not to sound biased, but I think that person should be from the Hidden Leaf since we're the only ones who haven't been hit by this group. That alone will make our judgement stronger and less potent."

"I agree." The rest of the elders nodded in the agreement.

"So… Who will be sent on this mission?"

At that moment, the door slammed open and someone walked in with a mysterious aura to them.

"I nominate Uzumaki Naruto."

"You're…" Kakashi could easily tell who it was. He stood straight up and was completely shocked to see him in this situation.

"Who are you to interrupt a meeting of the elders…"

Kakashi threw his arm up to cut off the elder from continuing their words.

"And why do you suggest him?"

"Just look around you. He created this new world and is now the strongest shinobi out there. He is the only logical choice for this mission."

"Hm." Kakashi turned to his council people and saw that they were all talking this over. At a glance, it seemed like that suggestion was the best one and after a couple of seconds, they decided to go along with it. Kakashi turned back around to acknowledge the strange man, but he was already gone. "Strange." He sat back down and addressed the council. "We will assign Uzumaki Naruto to this mission. Summon him to the Hokage quarters at dawn."

"Aye." One of the ANBU guards vanished while the council adjourned for the night.

…

Naruto was training in the Final Valley. He created a huge Rasengan and smashed it against the canyon wall. Immediately after that, the ANBU guard appeared before him and told him that the Hokage requested his presence. Naruto nodded his head and finished up his training session before heading over.

Once again, Naruto did another test run, but this time, he was determined to get it right. He closed his eyes and vanished. When he reappeared, he was in the middle of the Hokage's office. He opened his eyes and smiled.

"Yes, it worked," he said under his breath.

"Minato-sensei!" Kakashi stood up as if he was seeing a ghost.

"Huh? No, it's Naruto." Naruto could tell that Kakashi lost his cool a bit, but he said nothing about it. He just stood there and waited to hear what he needed to say.

"Right. Sorry about that. Anyway, we have a new mission for you."

"Me? Is there no one else that can do this?"

"We decided that it was best that you do this one. A surprising person nominated you for it and he sounded very convincing." The two of them looked at each other knew who it was. It was Sasuke.

"Okay. What's the mission?"

"We've gotten multiple reports that a rogue group of ninjas have broken away from their villages and are trying to ravage the other villages that stand together. This is important. We need you to figure out their motives before doing anything else. If it turns out that they are hostile, you are authorized the engage, but not before. Is that understood?"

"Of course."

"Good. The latest data tells us that they were leaving the Hidden Mist now. We don't know where they're heading and that's where you come in."

"I got it, Kakashi-sensei. Don't worry. I'll be able to do it." At that moment, Naruto vanished into thin air and Kakashi had the same recollection of his old master. That's when he knew that Naruto was surpassing his superiors by a huge margin.

Before he left, he stopped by Hinata's window to let her know that he was leaving. He told her the conditions of the mission and promised her that he would return. Unfortunately, she wasn't too supportive of this mission.

"Didn't you just get back? Why do you have to leave again?"

"It's to protect the village. You know that I wouldn't leave unless it was absolutely necessary."

"Yeah, but…"

Naruto held her cheek with his hand.

"Don't worry about me. I promise I'll make it back. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, remember," he said with a smile. Hinata did her best to smile back.

"Hey!"

"Gotta go." He vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Hinata-sama, who was that?!"

"No one." She quickly closed her window and collapsed onto the ground. All she was thinking about was that yellow hair, red cloak, and giant scroll on his back. Naruto has become such a great shinobi that she could barely even stand it. Just the thought of him was making her go crazy. However, she knew she had to calm herself down since Naruto never broke a promise to her. That was the one thing she could hold onto, and it was definitely worth it.

End of Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7

Hero's Heart

Chapter 7

The Rights and Wrongs

Naruto flew through the forest at tremendous speed as he gained ground towards the Hidden Mist. As he was by himself, it gave him time to think and he was only thinking about Hinata. He couldn't help but feel bad about everything since he wanted to and should be spending time with her. The only thing was that Hinata seemed really supportive of whatever he was doing so that alone made him feel better.

After about a day or so, he came across a rather large group of ninjas. They didn't seem anything out of the ordinary so Naruto knew that this mission was going to require patience. They were setting up camp for the day so he kept his distance and watched over them.

All throughout the night, he was unable to get any good information on them since they were pretty quiet and constantly on watch. This made him even more curious. If they were just a normal group of ninjas, why would they be so cautious about what they were doing? The only answer to that question would be that they were hiding something. That's what Naruto was determined to find out. He wanted to make sure that he didn't miss a thing so he constantly had his eyes on them. Whenever they set up camp, whenever they travelling on the road; he was near them, making sure that they weren't doing anything suspicious.

Unfortunately, time went by and things really started to flatten out. They were simply travelling from village to village without doing anything. Naruto eventually wondered if this was the right group, but one night, he noticed something that caught his attention. A man was wearing the Akatsuki cloak from before. The only thing about it was that he wasn't a member that Naruto could recognize. This quickly made things interesting. From afar, it was obvious that he was the leader so Naruto kept extra attention on him.

"So where are we going next?"

"I have a meeting to get to in the Hidden Leaf so that's where we're heading next. Everyone got that?! Hidden Leaf is out next destination so be ready for anything."

"Aye!"

This was the only conversation they ever had and Naruto took note of it. If they had a meeting at Konoha, were they even enemies? Naruto remained in the shadows and watched as they cleaned up camp and headed in the direction of the Hidden Leaf.

At this point, three days passed and Naruto was yet to see anything that told him that they were hostile. When they were in range of the Hidden Leaf, they broke up into multiple groups with very few numbers to attract less attention. They split off into different directions except for the leader. He walked straight through the main entrance as if he was a casual tourist. This was when Naruto was torn. He wasn't sure if he should follow the leader and check on the other groups. At that moment, Naruto smacked himself in the head in embarrassment.

"You idiot. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Multiple clones appeared around them and each of them was responsible to keep track of a certain group. They split off and went to their positions.

Meanwhile, the leader group was taking a nice little stroll through the streets of Konoha. Naruto kept a close watch on each of the groups, but they still didn't seem to be hostile. Only time would tell before he had to intervene on whatever they were planning. Finally, they found themselves at the Hyuga temple. They knocked on the door and Hiashi opened it up. However, the leader of the group didn't say anything. He just invited himself in onto their grounds.

"Excuse me, but who are you?"

"I don't really think that is a concern right now."

Multiple Hyuga guards appeared next to Hiashi in a defensive formation.

"Why are you people here?"

"Clans."

"Clans?"

"You people believe this world to be peaceful, but there is still one thing wrong with it. You special clans who think you're above everyone else, and the Hyuga is the root of the problem. You protect your precious Byakugan like it actually belongs to you."

"It does."

"Wrong! It belongs to the people of this world. That's not something you can hide away." The man saw the Hyuga take a step forward and immediately retorted something else. "Don't even try attacking."

"What's going on here?!"

"Hinata, get back inside."

"Hey, what's the big idea, trespassing on our land?"

"Hanabi-chan, stay behind me."

At that moment, a whole bunch of bodies were thrown over the wall and onto the front yard of the Hyuga temple. They were bodies of the group that was confronting the Hyuga. The leader looked up at the wall and saw numerous people standing atop the wall. They all looked the same which puzzled him.

"Get those two now." One of his men charged Hinata and Hanabi, but the Hiashi was there to intercept him. However, it didn't prove to be effective. Hiashi, somehow, saw a premonition of the man and swung at him. Little did he know that the real one was already behind him. He kicked Hiashi in his lower back and continued towards the two girls.

"You're ours now."

"I don't think so!" Out of nowhere, Naruto appeared in front of the two girls. His Rasengan forced the assailant to the ground, rendering him defeated. Meanwhile, the remaining hostile group was shocked to see this. That man that Naruto took out was one of their best and yet, he got taken out in one blow.

"Who are you?"

"I'll give you the same answer as you did to Hiashi-san. That doesn't concern you." Naruto looked up and revealed his Sage Mode to the rest of the hostile group.

"Naruto-kun."

"Hinata, get back. They're after you so as long as you're behind me, they won't get you."

"Okay."

"Naruto-san, kick their butts."

Naruto smiled at Hanabi's remark.

"Got it."

"Get him!"

The other five men in the group charged Naruto, but Naruto had something special planned. His clones suddenly appeared next to the assailants and quickly took them out. After that, Naruto used his speed to appear in front of the leader.

"What? So fast."

Naruto curled his fingers into a fist and delivered a huge punch to the man's face. His body was sent flying through the gate and into the forest just outside the temple. Naruto slowly walked out of the temple and continued to pursue him.

"Why are you here?"

The man was struggling to get up since Naruto's punch was unlike anything he's ever seen or felt before. After about a minute or so, he managed to return to his feet.

"You wouldn't understand. The clans of this world hide themselves away with special jutsu that could benefit this world, and yet, they keep to themselves. How is that right?"

"You don't have the right to take what is not yours. The Hyuga are amazing people who helped in shaping what this world is now. From what I can tell, you're just trying to cause havoc amongst the Great Nations."

"So what if I am? You can't stop me." He suddenly leapt towards Naruto, but Naruto already knew that he was going to do that. He lowered his body and prepared his final attack.

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms." Hinata suddenly appeared from above him and gave him the full blow of the attack. The force of the attack sent him crashing in the ground once again and all of the strength in his body left him completely.

"Hinata, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry. I just… I couldn't just stand and watch while you dealt with him."

"But it could have been dangerous."

"Naruto-kun, you've protected me numerous times in the past. I just thought that I could do the same for you." She walked closer to him when she was immediately cut off.

"Hinata, get back here at once." Hiashi was standing at the gate. The two looked back at the gate and knew that it was already too late for them.

"I'm sorry. I have to go." Hinata closed her eyes and ran back to the temple. As she passed Hiashi, he took a step towards Naruto.

"I appreciate what you did, but don't think this excuses anything. I still want you to stay away from Hinata. Stay away from all of us." He turned around and headed back inside the gate.

"Why?" Naruto's words managed to stop Hiashi in his tracks.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why do you continue to hide the Byakugan? This world is at peace. There's no more war, no more conflict. You're acting as if it stills needs to be protected. There's nothing to protect anymore. Even your own people think that… Trust me."

At that moment, Hiashi dashed at Naruto at high speed and attempted to punch him in the face. However, Naruto grabbed his fist out of the air and prevented the attack from happening.

"You know, you've never liked me and I don't blame you, but you should really think about all of this. Give people a chance. I can guarantee that they will surprise you." He let go of Hiashi's fist and vanished.

"That boy."

…

Naruto appeared in the Hokage's office which still surprised Kakashi.

"The mission is complete."

"So, I take you figured out there intentions?"

"Yes… unfortunately." He bowed his head. "If you don't need me anymore, I will be on my way." He vanished and returned to his room. Kakashi knew that there was something going on and knew that he had to speak to Naruto, not as the Hokage, but as a friend.

End of Chapter 7


	8. Chapter 8

Hero's Heart

Chapter 8

Hokage

Naruto wandered the village purposelessly until he eventually ended up on top of Mt. Hokage. When he got up there, he saw the incredible view and decided to stay there for the rest of the day. He sat down on top of the Fourth Hokage and retreated to his thoughts. The only thing that was going through his mind was what Hiashi told him.

 _Stay away from them._

Why did he say that? Why was he hiding like that? Naruto had so many questions that just couldn't be answered. They all involved the Hyuga and the Hyuga weren't in the mood to talk to him. This only made him feel worse.

"Ugh… This sucks."

"Something on your mind?"

Naruto turned around and saw Kakashi standing right behind him. The odd thing was that he was dressed as if he was his teacher. He wasn't wearing Hokage stuff, just his old apparel from when Team 7 was still a team.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing?" Naruto watched him walk up next to him and take a seat beside him.

"I had a meeting with the Elders pretty recently. We talked about a lot of stupid things, but there was one thing I had to bring up that might peak your interests." Kakashi looked at Naruto who wasn't really interested in this conversation so he decided to step right to it. "I've decided to retire as the Hokage."

"Eehhh?!"

"Haha, is that the best reaction you could come up with?"

"Wait, why? You've been doing a great job as the Hokage."

"Not really. I didn't really do anything. All of this came from you. You united the nations after the Great War. I was just there to keep our people in check. You're the onewho's truly been leading our people. I think it's time that your dream came true."

"Don't be ridiculous. I can't be Hokage."

"And why is that? That's been your dream ever since you were young. What changed?"

Naruto was silent.

"Uh, well…" Naruto didn't have the words. He just shut up and looked down.

"Naruto, I've noticed lately that you haven't been yourself. Is there a reason for this? The reason why I'm asking is because you were once my student so I care about you. You don't need to go around thinking that no one cares about you or thinks you're useless." Kakashi put his hand on his shoulder which made Naruto look up at him. "I know you'll be a great Hokage. I watched you all of this time and you've managed to surpass some of the greatest shinobi in history, including your father who was an incredible shinobi. He was also a good man and you're already one as well."

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei. I feel a little better now."

"Good. I just wanted to let you know that the Hokage position is practically yours. There's no one who contests with you… Not even Sasuke."

That's when Naruto's eyes shot wide open. Hearing that name was almost like seeing a ghost. Kakashi knew that using his name would motivate Naruto even more since the two of them have had an intricate past.

"You think so?"

"I know so. No one could do what you managed to do for this world. I think it's time for everyone to see you for who you truly are… and that's Hokage."

"Alright."

Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's shoulder once again and gave him a good rub. After that, Kakashi had to go for some Hokage business. Meanwhile, Naruto returned to his feet and took a deep breath. He then looked out towards the village and smiled.

"Hokage, huh?" At that moment, he disappeared and reappeared inside of Hinata's room. However, Naruto didn't have the best timing in the world. When he appeared, he saw Hinata in her underwear. "Oh man."

"N-N-Naruto-kun… Hyah!" She covered up her body with one arm while with her other arm, she slapped him across the face.

"I-I'm so sorry." He turned around and looked at the door from just an inch away.

Thankfully, this little fiasco didn't get the attention from her guards, but Naruto felt really about it. He did kind of barge into her room without any warning so it makes sense for Hinata to react in this manner. After a minute or so, Hinata finished changing and allowed Naruto to turn around. He did so in a super slow manner to show how sorry he was. Of course, Hinata told him that it was alright, but Naruto wasn't swayed by her kind words.

"I'm really sorry, Hinata. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Naruto-kun, I said it's okay. You came here for a reason, right… because if you didn't then I might a little mad."

"No, of course I came here for a reason. Kakashi-sensei talked to earlier and said that he was retiring and that I was going to succeed him."

"Really?"

"Well, it's not official yet so I can't be too happy, but…"

"That's great." Hinata wrapped her arms around Naruto's body which totally caught him off guard. Even though their feelings for each other are mutual, Hinata's never been one to show her feelings like this. And yet, Naruto didn't mind. He just hugged her back and smiled. "Your dreams are coming true, Naruto-kun."

"Almost… There are still some things that I need to do."

"Like what?"

Naruto pulled her off of his body and looked her in the eyes.

"The Hyuga. I can't keep letting you guys live like this. You're a part of this village and yet your walls continue to get higher. That needs to change in order for this world to move on."

"Naruto-kun, as much as I believe in you, I just don't think that that'll work."

"What do you mean?"

"Lord Hiashi is the head of the clan. He's strong-willed and believes that the Byakugan chose him to be the caretaker. I don't think there's any way to change his mind."

Naruto suddenly kissed her on the head.

"Don't worry. I'll figure out a way to change his mind. I know he doesn't like me, but I need him to acknowledge me. I did this with Sasuke and look what happened. We're better friends than ever. I promise to you free you guys from this lifestyle."

"Thank you Naruto-kun." She hugged him again as the two of them stayed in each other's embrace for some time longer.

…

"Hokage-sama, are you sure about this?"

"Absolutely. My time as the Hokage has come to an end. It's only right that we pick our new leader."

"Alright. Does anyone have a suggestion?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

At that moment, Kakashi was caught off guard. He was so determined to nominate him and yet, when he looked at the end of the table, he saw Shikamaru doing it instead. His father was a part of the council and since everyone knew what kind of person Shikamaru was, it was only right that he inherited it from his father.

"Naruto-kun, huh? That's a good pick. Anyone else?" The head Elder looked around and saw that no one was going to nominate anyone. "What about Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Excuse me…" Kakashi got up from his seat and decided to share his thoughts on this suggestion. "Uchiha Sasuke is a good nominee, but I think we all consider him to the Itachi of our time. He's dealing with all of the behind-the-scenes crap on his own accord. Also, I truly believe that Sasuke would want Naruto to become Hokage instead of him."

"I see. Does anyone have any objections?" The head Elder looked around and saw everyone shaking their heads. "Alright, I guess that settles it. Uzumaki Naruto will become our new Hokage." They all rose to their feet and bowed to each other. Another successful and productive meeting amongst the Elders that discussed the thing that revolved around the Hidden Leaf for so long. Uzumaki Naruto was going to become Hokage.

End of Chapter 8


	9. Chapter 9

Hero's Heart

Chapter 9

The Life-Long Dream

The next morning was incredibly hectic. Everyone was running all over town doing all sorts of things since they received news of the new Hokage being named. It was almost as if Naruto was coming home again, except without actually coming home. This time, they were celebrating the biggest day of his life. His dream of becoming Hokage was finally being realized. All of his friends went to his house and congratulated him before he could even breathe. They barged through his door while he was sleeping and toured around town. Unfortunately, they only person who was there with them was Hinata.

"Naruto!"

"We knew you could do it!"

"Go get 'em!"

"Woo!"

Everyone in the town streets saw his friends parading him through town and cheered for him. They all knew that today was important to him so they wanted to make him feel extra special. He just wished that Hinata was with them.

After their parade around the village, they took him back to his room and allowed him to change. This was where he put a lot of thought into what was happening. Ever since he could remember, being Hokage was the one thing that remained in his head. Now, he was going to become Hokage. He finished getting dressed and threw his scroll over his back. He looked at his hands and they were shaking.

"Jeez, calm down. It's just a normal day, even though it's not really a normal day." He took a deep breath and looked in the mirror. "Today doesn't change anything. Keep following your dreams no matter what." He smacked his face with his hands and headed out the door.

Immediately, people from all over town created a nice walkway for him. However, they were cheering his name and throwing confetti and all sorts of other things at him. He looked around and saw so many people he recognized. Others, he didn't know, but were still congratulating him. The walkway was extremely long, leading from his room to the Hokage building. The entire way there, people created were on either sides trying to get a last look at the normal Naruto they all knew as he was about to become Hokage.

The entire walk there was a little hectic, but seeing the smiles on everyone's faces made it a lot better. Eventually, he made to the main event. They set up a stage in front of the Hokage building where Kakashi, the village Elders, and Team 7 were waiting. At that moment, Naruto was thrown off guard by seeing Sasuke standing next to Sakura. His team was back together once again.

"Woo!"

"Go Naruto, you rock!"

"Alright. Settle down everyone." The head Elder took to the mic and gathered the crowd for the start of the ceremony. "Today, we are proud to share the moment of crowning our new Hokage."

"Woooo!" The crowds went nuts. Meanwhile, Kakashi stepped forward and took over the mic.

"Before I start, I just want to say that it was an honor to serve you as Hokage. No other village is like Konoha so I thank you." They all clapped in both happiness and sadness. "But now, it's time that we establish our new leader. Let me talk about this young man for a minute. Ever since he was young, all he ever wanted to be was Hokage. When I took him in as my student, things were difficult, but I could always see the determination in his eyes. He wanted to become strong, not for him though. He wanted to do it for everyone else that he cared about. I can't think of anyone better to become Hokage than this young man." Kakashi stepped away from the mic and Sakura made her way up.

"Naruto and I didn't become friends until we were on Team 7, and even then, I didn't really like him. I kind of feel bad about that." Everyone in the crowd laughed. "But when Sasuke left, that's when I realized what kind of person Naruto was. He was selfless. He wanted the people around him to be happy even if he wasn't it. He tried to protect everyone. The Great War was the perfect example of that. Without Naruto, none of us would be here. Let's hear it for him." Sakura stepped away from the mic and started to clap. Everyone followed her example until the last speaker stepped up to the mic.

"Uzumaki Naruto… I don't there's anything left to say that hasn't already been said. All I can say is… Congratulations. Your dream has come true."

"Woo!"

"Yeah!" Everyone cheered and clapped once again while Naruto couldn't believe what was happening.

"Uzumaki Naruto, please stand up, raise your right hand, and repeat after me:"

"I, Uzumaki Naruto, pledge to devote myself to the Village Hidden in Leaves. By any means necessary, I will protect my home with my life and stop any dangers to its people. The right of Hokage belongs to those who put others before themselves. Understanding these things, the Village Hidden in Leaves can feel safe under my watch." He lowered his hand and looked at the head Elder.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Hidden Leaf… I present you our Seventh Hokage: Uzumaki Naruto."

At that moment, the whole village exploded in happiness. Naruto was their new Hokage. Fireworks and confetti were shot into the air as the biggest day in Hidden Leaf history was upon them. As the celebration continued, a split in the crowd occurred which attracted everyone's attention. This spectacle only lasted about a minute or so before the other Kage revealed themselves to everyone around them. Naruto saw them in their spectacle grandeur and looked right at Gaara. He was looking back at him with a smile. Their promise was finally fulfilled.

Since it was in inauguration day, he had no responsibility so the Elders allowed him to party for the night. He spent most of his time with the other Kage. Gaara, Chojuro, Darui, and Kurotsuchi congratulated him on his success and Gaara was the first one to share their first drink. The five of them were pretty new to the Kage business so they talked a lot about what they were doing, but that wasn't the focus of their time together. They just had a good time.

After the Kage had their fun, Naruto spent the rest of the night with his friends. There wasn't much left to say, but they couldn't help but say how happy they were about him being Hokage. They showered him with praise, but he was still a bit absentminded. Hinata still wasn't there which was bothering him. There was really no time to step away so he did his best to create opportunities to get away from the party.

Finally, he managed to figure out a way to escape the madness of the party. He slipped into the shadows and went to the Hyuga temple. Unfortunately, when he got there, the whole place was dark. None of the lights were on and it looked as though they reinforced the walls for some reason. He looked around and saw no one else around. However, there was a guard standing on top of the wall.

"Who goes there?!"

"It's Naruto. I wanted to see Hinata."

"Hinata-sama is away right now. No one is allowed on the Hyuga grounds except for the Hyuga."

"I see. Could you at least give her a message for me?"

"Contact with the outside is strictly prohibited by Lord Hiashi. I'm sorry, but it's strongly advised that you leave at once."

Naruto was about to protest, but quickly backed off. He was Hokage now. If he wanted to change things, there was a certain way he should go about doing it. He turned around and headed back into town. When the first people caught sight of him, they grabbed him and pulled him back into the mess of things. However, Naruto couldn't concentrate on the party anymore. He wanted to do something big as his first act as Hokage, and he knew what he should. It's what Sakura and Hinata have been talking about.

…

When the night grew old, everyone started to taper off in their own directions. Before they all left though, they congratulated Naruto once more for his accomplishments. On the other hand, Naruto was the last one to leave the party grounds. He watched everyone else leave. None of them knew what was going on except for him, but that's how he wanted it to be. This wasn't something people needed to worry about. He just wanted them to know that he was making a difference in some way, and freeing the Hyuga would be the first step.

He eventually returned to his house. Things were pretty boring there, but he didn't mind since most of the day was full of fun and excitement. He opened the door and turned on the lights. Right as he entered the place, he saw someone sitting on his bed. It was Hinata.

"Hinata, what are you doing here," he asked sharply as he quickly closed the door behind him.

"I wanted to see you…"

"I thought the Hyuga were getting stricter on stuff like this. Like, you."

"I wanted to congratulate you in person on your big day. I know this means the world to you so I just had to come here. I was lucky I made it out like I did."

Naruto sighed.

"I really appreciate it, Hinata. I do, but I think you should head back before they find out that you're gone. I'll help you actually."

"Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you going to do now, now that you're Hokage?"

"It's like I said. I'm going to change the Hyuga. I promise." He grabbed Hinata's hand and suddenly appeared in her room. He bid her a good night and returned to his room. Even though he wanted to spend more time with her, he knew that it was best to wait until his plan gets in motion. "What a day." He fell onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. "Dad, I did it. I became Hokage. Please watch over me."

End of Chapter 9


	10. Chapter 10

Hero's Heart

Chapter 10

First Act

In the morning, Naruto headed to the Hokage headquarters where the Elders, Kakashi, and Shikamaru were waiting for him. Kakashi pulled out the chair from underneath the desk and gestured him to come take his rightful seat. Naruto was a little nervous, but eventually made it to the chair. He sat down and could feel so many emotions running through his body,

"So… Hokage-sama, how are you feeling?"

"I don't even know. I'm speechless."

"Naruto, before you get too comfortable, there is something that you must know. When a Hokage is chosen, they must enact one thing that betters the village. Did you happen to have something in mind?"

At that moment, Naruto got out of his chair and explained to them the extent of his goal. He told them about the Hyuga and how he wanted to them to reform their ways. In old standards, they would have disagreed with him, but the way things were now, it only seemed right to do it. They quickly gave him their approval and left him alone with Kakashi and Shikamaru.

"Naruto, as your advisor, I'm glad to hear about your plan."

"Thanks Shikamaru. I'm glad that you'll be right my side."

"Hokage-sama…"

"Kakashi-sensei, please don't call me that. It just sounds too weird. You were Hokage too so there's no need to treat me like I'm higher up than you. That doesn't matter to me."

"Sorry. Naruto, do you know how you're going to go about doing this? It's a great idea. I just don't see how you could possibly pull it off."

"Don't worry. I have a plan. The only thing is that I need to do it by myself. I don't want anyone else's help. This is something that I must do on my own."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

"Alright then. If you don't need anything else, I'll be taking my leave then."

"Okay. Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto and Shikamaru watched him leave. After that, Naruto pulled out one of his father's kunai and set it down on the desk. The handle had the word "Hokage" on it. This just put a smile on his Naruto's face. That's when he pulled out a piece of paper and pen and started to write on it.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm starting my plan."

…

Hiashi stepped into the courtyard on the Hyuga temple when an interesting-looking kunai landed right in front of him. He looked around, but saw someone around him so he slowly walked over to it and picked it up off the ground. There was a note attached to the blade while the handle read "Hokage." At that moment, Hiashi grew a little worrisome. He opened up the note and read it to himself.

 _Dear Members of the Hyuga,_

 _I request your audience at the Final Village this afternoon. Bring all of your followers. There's no need to be armed. I will be alone. I simply want to talk to you. I hope to see you soon._

 _-Lord Hokage_

Hiashi suddenly crumpled up the paper in his hand and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Everyone assemble… NOW!" Within a few seconds, all of the Hyuga members assembled in the courtyard, including Hanabi. Unfortunately, Hinata was placed on house arrest until otherwise notified. "I called you all here because I have some important news to tell you. Our Hokage is challenging us to a battle."

At that moment, murmurs started to spread like wildfire.

"How is that possible?"

"Why would he do something like?"

"But isn't our Hokage Naruto now?"

"Silence! I don't care about why. I just need all of my loyal Hyuga to accompany me to the Final Valley. The Hokage believes that he can defeat all of us, but we will show him that we are strong. For those who wish to join me, let's go. I don't want to be late for this." Hiashi turned around and headed out the gate.

Meanwhile, most of the Hyuga there decided to follow him. Hanabi was shocked that Naruto would do something like this, but since she was loyal to the Hyuga, she decided to follow her leader. There were only a small handful that decided to stay since they believed in Naruto. Unfortunately, Hinata was unaware of this so she had no idea what was about to go down in the Final Valley.

…

The Hyuga continued to march to the Final Valley. Once they got within range, they saw Naruto all alone. He was sitting on the ground, looking as though he was gaining Nature Energy. When they arrived, they surrounded him to make sure that he had no chance at attacking. They all activated their Byakugan to give them an even greater advantage.

"Naruto, we're here like you asked. What is that you wish to speak with us about?"

"I haven't given up on my goal of changing the Hyuga, and I'm planning on starting now." At that moment, the orange shadow appeared around his eyes while everyone else was examining the change in Naruto's body. They saw a huge rush of power flow into his body and knew that it was time to attack.

"Get him! Don't give him any chance to attack!"

All of the Hyuga pounced on him and attacked at the same time. Meanwhile, Naruto took the full blow of the attack. The only one who didn't attack was Hanabi. She could only watch at the savagery that the Hyuga was committing. She could tell that Naruto had no intention of fighting. She tried telling them to stop, but they just wouldn't listen. She then tried prying them off of his body, but that didn't work. That's when she realized that there was only one thing left to do. She had to get help from back at the village.

Hanabi ran through town looking for anyone who would be willing to help. She came across Sakura, Choji, Ino, and a few of the others. She quickly told them about the situation and led them back to the Final Valley. On the way there, they passed by the Hyuga temple where Hinata happened to be looking out the window. She saw the group running as fast in they could in that direction which peaked her interest. No one was around to stop her, but the ones who were with her supported her and Naruto's resolve to change the Hyuga. She broke out of her room, gathered the remaining Hyuga and headed to where the other group was going.

It took them some time, but they eventually made it back to the Final Valley. Right as they got there, they saw Naruto's body being tossed around like a ball. They immediately intervened to try and stop them, but the Hyuga were persistent. They thrashed them out of the fight and made sure that Naruto was unable to retaliate. After a few more minutes of fighting, Hiashi came in with a huge attack that sent Naruto's body flying away from the group.

"Naruto!" Sakura and the rest of them tried to get to Naruto, but the Hyuga refused to back down. They blocked them off before they could. "Stop this now! Why are you doing this?!"

"Back off! All of you!"

Amidst the chaos, Hiashi continued to walk towards Naruto who was lying on the ground without moving an inch.

"I think I'm about done with this talk. It was very productive though. I think we came to the conclusion that you can't change us. Then again, there's nothing to change." Hiashi was about to swing at Naruto again when Hinata appeared in front of him which made him stop his attack. "Hinata, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be back at the temple."

"I'm came to protect Naruto-kun."

"What are you saying? Get out of the way. This… boy needs to be taught a lesson."

At that moment, the other Hyuga she brought with her jumped in behind her and stood their ground with her. This revelation caused the Hyuga fending off Sakura and the others to stop. That's when they broke through the crowd of people and stood in front of Naruto.

"Why can't you see it? All of this time, Naruto-kun has been the one protecting us. He allowed us to still be a part of this world. Now, he wants to make this world even better by freeing us from the thought of being hidden away. There's no need for that. Everyone's at peace. We don't need to afraid anymore."

"Hinata, you don't know…"

"No, you don't know! I love Naruto-kun. He would never do anything to hurt his friends. You may not think it, but he considers all of us his friends. He went through so much throughout his life and yet, he's able to forgive and forget. Look at you now. You're the one who's the bad guy here. You're beating him up when he's not even trying to fight back. That alone calls for change."

"Hinata…"

At that moment, most of Hiashi's men walked over to Naruto's side and stood behind Hinata. Meanwhile, Hiashi couldn't believe what was happening.

"What are you doing?"

"This is wrong, Lord Hiashi."

"Hinata's right. Naruto's always been there for us even if we didn't know it or need it."

"If you Neji-niisan was here, he would be supporting Naruto as well."

"What… did you say?" Hiashi's face went white with fear. "Neji was one of my best and loyalist students. How dare you bring him into this?"

"He was also a friend of Naruto. He chose to believe in Naruto till the end. If Neji was here, he would be ashamed of you."

"Hinata… please stop." Naruto's voice suddenly broke through the tense atmosphere. Everyone turned around to see Naruto returning to his feet. He looked so shaky, but he continued to get through this with the help of his friends. "I appreciate you guys all being here, but… This is something Lord Hiashi and I must talk over." He walked through the group until he was right next to Hinata. "I can take over from here. Thank you, Hinata."

"No, there's no need for that."

"Look, Lord Hiashi, I know that…"

"I've heard enough… You're right and I'm wrong."

End of Chapter 10


	11. Chapter 11

Hero's Heart

Chapter 11

Man of the World

 **Note:** I know it may seem abrupt, but this is the final chapter of the story. I hope you've all been enjoying it. Be sure to stick around till the end of the story just in case you haven't already figured out what happens next.

Lord Hiashi walked off in silence while the rest of his Hyuga followed behind him. Meanwhile, everyone was speechless. They couldn't believe those last words he spoke. Hinata and Hanabi were the only Hyuga who stayed with Naruto. Of course, he was all banged up so all of the medical ninjas tried to help him out, but he insisted that he was fine. He slowly got back on his feet and took a deep breath.

"Haha, that didn't really go as expected," she said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" Hinata came up next to him with much concern on her face.

"Don't worry Hinata. I'm fine. I did what I originally planned, didn't I? All we can do now is wait to see what happens."

"You're right." Hinata kissed him on the cheek and hoisted one of his arms over her shoulders. Some of the others there helped him returned him to his feet and guided him back to the village.

On the way there, they had to pass by the Hyuga temple where something strange had happened. The walls that surrounded the temple were gone. It was obvious that this was a recent event since there were still pieces falling and crumbling. Everyone in the group couldn't believe what they were witnessing. They couldn't believe that Naruto's were so effective.

"Hey, there's some kind of note here." Kiba went to the destroyed wall and picked up a piece of paper. "It's for you, Naruto." He handed to him, but Hinata was the one to grab it out of the air.

"To Uzumaki Naruto, you were right all of this time. I was just afraid to admit it. I truly believed that there was some kind of threat in the world when there wasn't. You managed to change this world completely, but I was just too blind to realize it. In the past, I prided myself in making sure the Hyuga were invincible when it comes to visible prowess, but even my eyes couldn't see reality happening around me. I hope you can forgive me for what I've done so I've decided to go away for some time. All I ask of you now is that you…" Hinata suddenly stopped mid-sentence and covered her mouth.

"What's wrong, Hinata?"

"All I ask of you now is that you love Hinata and give her everything you can. I mistreated her in the past, but now, she can have a future where someone loves her for who she is. I know now that that person is you. Goodbye… Hokage-sama." At that moment, Hinata lost strength in her legs. She collapsed to the ground, bringing Naruto with her.

"Hinata, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Tears were starting to run down her face. Even though this note was for Naruto, it touched Hinata more in ways that no one could understand. "Naruto-kun, I'm so sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"I made you go through all of this. I feel terrible."

"You don't need to feel that way. I'm here for you now so I'll be the one to bear your pain. It's what I've been doing all of my life." He smiled at her, but his smile only made her cry even more. Hinata dropped the piece of paper and wrapped her other arm around him to give him a hug.

"Let's hear it for Naruto and Hinata."

"Woo!"

…

After some time, the group finally split up once Naruto was feeling better. That's when it was just him and Hinata. She walked him back to his room just to be sure that he was alright. When they got back, Naruto slowly walked into his room.

"Naruto-kun, I think I'm going to leave."

"Wait!" His voice broke out from his room. "Ah, where are you?"

From where she was, it sounded as if Naruto was looking for something, but she wasn't exactly sure what he was doing. The other thing that seemed strange was that Naruto was acting as if he wasn't just nearly beaten to death. Hinata continued to stand there for some time until Naruto came out with his head drooped over towards the ground. When he got near Hinata, he put his hand on her shoulder and the two of them vanished. When they reappeared, Hinata saw that they were on top of Mt. Hokage.

"Naruto-kun, what's going on? Are you okay? Why did you bring me here? You need your rest…" At that moment, Hinata was forced to stop mid-sentence as Naruto pulled out a small box and got down on his knee.

"I know this may not seem like the most romantic place or time to do this, but I had to do this. I kept holding it off because I knew it wouldn't be right, but after what happened today, I know now that it's alright. Hyuga Hinata, will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me."

Hinata was complete in shock. She didn't see this coming even with her Byakugan. This random turn of events threw her off of her feet which made it almost impossible to answer him.

"N-Naruto-kun, I… I d-don't know what to say."

"I know. I'm doing this immediately after this whole conflict got resolved, but I thought about doing it before, but I would just have a guilty conscience. There was no way I would take away without the approval of the Hyuga. So now that things have settled over, I…"

"Yes."

A few seconds went by of complete silence.

"Eh?"

"I said yes." Hinata was starting to blush at Naruto's clueless reaction. "I will marry you."

Although Naruto couldn't believe she said yes, he returned to his feet and pulled out the ring to put on her finger. Again, there were a few seconds of silence as Naruto and Hinata looked at the beautiful ring on her finger.

"Naruto-kun, this is so beautiful. How did you get it?"

"It's part of the Hokage thing. We get a small fund that can be used for anything. I decided to use it for you. After all, you're worth it." He peered his eyes up and looked her in the eyes. "I love you Hinata."

"I love you too."

Naruto slowly put his hands on her cheeks and pulled her in for a kiss. Right as their lips touched, a rush of warmth ran through both of their bodies. All of this time, they didn't really know the feeling of love until now, and the only thing they could say about it was that it felt incredible.

…

A year went by and their wedding was finally upon them. Naruto was waiting at the altar and when he saw Hinata walking towards him, he started to get all sweaty and nervous. Lord Hiashi was walking her down the aisle so when they arrived at the altar, Hiashi gave Naruto a hand shake and a pat on his shoulder. For Naruto, that was their first good encounter and it was as good as he hoped for.

"Welcome dearly beloved, we are here to bind the fates of Hyuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto. Love is a peculiarly thing. Sometimes, it goes perfectly and sometimes, the most unexpected things bring fates together. That is what he have here today. Two completely different people coming to together to create a future worth living for. Do you both have your wedding vows?" They both nodded. "Well, then we shall start with our beautiful bride."

"Naruto-kun, I always remember that day where you stood up to those bullies. You were clearly outmatched and yet, you stood your ground and declared that you were better than them. All throughout my life, no one has ever stuck up for me like the way you did. Whenever I was in trouble or in pain, you were there to be by my side. I wouldn't be here if you weren't around. That's when I knew that it was more than that. I knew that I loved you. Unfortunately, I was never brave enough to tell you. You kept moving forward while I followed you constantly. Then you saved us from the Infinite Tsukuyomi and that's when I knew that we could never be a thing. Yet, you came out of nowhere and told me you loved me. It's such a weird story, but it means the world to me that you love me now. Thank you."

"Beautiful. Now for our groom."

"I'm still not good with words, but I did manage to prepare something that I think is pretty good." The crowd chuckled to his comment. "My life was filled with hate and pain. I thought that that was all there was to live for. When I found out about love from my mom, everything changed. I saw people differently and that eventually guided me to you. The bad thing was that I found out that you have loved me for so long and I was never there to return your feelings. All I can say now is thank you. I thank you for being so patient with me. I thank you for still loving a guy like me who is a complete airhead."

"You're a sweet airhead though." Hinata's comment caused the crowd to laugh again.

"Haha, yeah, I guess I am. I love you, Hinata."

"Aawww."

"Hinata, please repeat after me."

"I, Hyuga Hinata, promise to love you with all of my heart. I will be by your side through everything we experience. Through sickness and in health, till death do us part."

"Naruto, can you manage that?"

"Of course I can. I, Uzumaki Naruto, promise to love you with all of my heart. I will be the one to burden your pain and suffering. Let me be the one to make you happy. No matter what happens to me, I will love you always."

"Um, that wasn't exactly the correct wording, but who cares. I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

At that moment, Naruto put his hands on Hinata's waist and dipped for a kiss.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Uzumaki."

"Woo!" The crowd went nuts. Most of the ones there were Naruto's and Hinata's friends so they were grateful that they were finally together. The long anticipated love story had finally reached its conclusion.

…

Years passed and the two of them gave birth to a son named Boruto and a daughter named Himawari. As times change, so do its people. How will this new generation change the world of the shinobi?

The End

 **Ending Note:** I decided to make a continuation of this story called **_The Next Generation._** This one covers the Boruto universe so if you're interested, the first chapter is already up. However, I want to thank you all who took the time to read this story. It means a lot to see how many of you and enjoying this story. Thank you so much for the support and continue to be incredible people.


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